"My job is to protect the country when I can," McConnell said at a campaign appearance in Louisville, Ky., according to WHAS 11, "and to step up and lead on those occasions when it's required. That's what I did."

"My preference is for a debt ceiling to carry additional legislation that does something about the debt," he said at the campaign event. "I've obviously demonstrated that. I negotiated the Budget Control Act with Vice President Biden in August of 2011. It led to a deficit reduction package that actually reduced government spending for two years in a row, for the first time since right after the Korean War."